Cairn Energy Wins Retro Tax Arbitration, India Directed To Pay $1.4 Bn
Cairn Energy was slapped with a tax demand of Rs 10,247 crore in March 2015 over alleged capital gains
PTI 23 December 2020 @CairnEnergy/Twitter PTI 2020-12-23T19:37:21+05:30 Cairn Energy Wins Retro Tax Arbitration, India Directed To Pay $1.4 Bn outlookindia.com 2020-12-23T19:49:18+05:30
India has been ordered to return up to USD 1.4 billion to Cairn Energy plc of UK after an international arbitration overturned tax demanded retrospectively an award the government indicated it may challenge.
The three-member tribunal, which also comprised of a nominee of the Indian government, unanimously ruled that India s claim of Rs 10,247 crore in past taxes over a 2006-07 internal reorganisation of Cairn s India business was not a valid demand.
(Representative image)
NEW DELHI: In a fresh setback to the government on retrospective taxation, an arbitration panel has unanimously ruled in favour of Cairn Energy Plc, holding that the Centre had failed to uphold its obligations under the UK-India bilateral investment treaty and international laws in seeking tax payments of Rs 10,250 crore from the company for its business reorganisation in the country.
The tribunal awarded Cairn $1.2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore), plus interest and costs, the company said in a statement after the ruling. The total damages are estimated at $1.4 billion for the government, which is studying the ruling. The government will be studying the award and all its aspects carefully in consultation with its counsel. After such consultations, the government will consider all options and take a decision on further course of action, including legal remedies before appropriate fora, the finance ministry said in a statement.
Synopsis
The move to expand the global lender consortium is aimed at quickly filling up Vi’s sizable funding requirement and also distributing the risk exposure across a larger pool of financiers, one of the people told ET.
Agencies
Kolkata | Mumbai | New Delhi: US-based GoldenTree Asset Management and Pacific Investment Management Co (PIMCO) have likely joined a consortium led by investment firm Oak Hill Advisors, which is in talks to provide a $2 billion (₹14,720 crore) credit line to
Vodafone Idea, three people aware of the matter said.
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“Our strategy is very simple,” Mr Tamalgo said. The company plans to leverage its position as the main vendor of the state-owned monopoly Ethio Telecom to bid for opportunities in the country, he said.
Liberalisation of the telecom industry is at the forefront of what Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in 2018 would be a wide-ranging privatisation program. The plan was intended to bring in much needed foreign exchange and boost the economy, while improving connectivity across the Horn of Africa nation.
The country is seeking to double its mobile towers to about 14,000, which would require an investment of up to $1.1 billion, and build out its fibre-optic network from less than 30,000 km currently, according to the Ethiopian Communications Authority. It also plans to sell a 40 per cent stake in Ethio Telecom and issue two new telecom licenses next year.